Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Iron-Promoted Remediation Of Atrazine: Solution And Amended Sandy Column Studies, Donghua Zeng

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Novel N-Body Orbits For Constrained Potentials Including The Unusual Figure Eight Three Body Orbit, Jan M. Dudzik

Masters Theses

Recently new n-body planar orbits have been discovered which are known as choreographies. These orbits correspond to small n, generally n<20, and exhibit unexpected patterns with respect to given initial conditions. Here we shall examine numerical solutions to the three-body problem and the restricted three-body problem for three body potentials that are the sum of three two-body potentials. Then for an everywhere attractive three body potential with non-collinear and collision-less orbits with a strictly monotone decreasing potential function there exist bound states that are not chaotic that are choreographies. For the right initial conditions these orbits can be mapped numerically and visualized. We will display a number of these cases corresponding to the three body problem, restricted three body problem, the chaotic restricted three body problem and the new figure eight bound state choreography for the Kazalov potential orbits to exhibit some of their special features and to take note of a number of open questions dealing with simple orbital problems.

A Similarity Based Concordance Approach To Word Sense Disambiguation, Ramakrishnan B. Guru

Masters Theses

This study attempts to solve the problem of Word Sense Disambiguation using a combination of statistical, probabilistic and word matching algorithms. These algorithms consider that words and sentences have some hidden similarities and that the polysemous words in any context should be assigned to a sense after each execution of the algorithm. The algorithm was tested with sufficient sample data and the efficiency of the disambiguation performance has proven to increase significantly after the inclusion of the concordance methodology.

Practical Approach To Incorporating Maple Into The Finite Mathematics Course: 3 Modules And 8 Case Studies, Jonica Helene Craft-Mcbride

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Cyclic Rings, Warren K. Buck

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Rugose Corals Of The Livingston Limestone Member, Bond Formation, Coles And Edgar County, Illinois, John Tobias Burke

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Computational Modeling Of Tumor Angiogenesis, Santanu Chatterjee

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Electron Transfer In Phosphido-Bridged Complexes, Pradeep N. Perera

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Physiology And Biochemistry Of Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum, A Fungal Plant Pathogen, Erastus Gatebe

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of Photomultiplier Tubes And Charge Coupled Devices In Glow Discharge-Optical Emission Spectrometry, Robert James Broadwater

Masters Theses

This Masters Thesis compared two glow discharge-optical emission spectrometers designed around two different types of detectors: the photomultiplier tube (PMT) and the charge-coupled device (CCD). The two instruments compared were the LECO SA2000 (PMT-based) and the LECO GDS500a (CCD-based). Detection limit, dynamic range, precision, accuracy, and drift were determined to compare the detection systems between 165 and 450nm.

The PMT-based system outperformed the CCD-based system in all five of the categories studied based on the initial protocol. However, it was shown that improvements could be made in four of the five categories studied by exploiting the CCDs ability to monitor …

Laboratory Testing Of Select Geotextiles As Biointrusion Barriers And Sediment Filters, David R. Beck

Masters Theses

It has been proposed that placing a geotextile over sediments with adsorbed contaminants can prevent bioaccumulation of the contaminants in larger animals by isolating the benthic organisms living within these sediments from fish. In conjunction with a field study carried out at Gull Creek, a laboratory study testing two geotextiles as biointrusion barriers and sediment filters was conducted.

Constant-head permeameters were run for seven days using cores from the field study area with a geotextile placed over the cores. For biointrusion barrier tests, medium sand was placed over the geotextile and spiked with nutrients. Following each trial, benthic organisms in …

Capillary Electrophoretic Separations Of Metal Ions, Elena Hofman

Masters Theses

Transition-metal (Zn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II)) ion separation was studied using 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid and 2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinoline ligands with surfactants (cationic and anionic) by capillary electrophoresis under a variety of conditions (like pH, ionic strength, voltage and ion, ligand and surfactant amounts) and has debuted a clear separation mechanism. With cationic surfactants, ligands compete with capillary surface silanols for the metal ions; with anionic surfactants, ligands, silanols and micelles compete.

An empirical parameter, K_e, (electrophoretic-mobilities based) rationalizing the separation was proposed, experimentally analyzed and supported; it provides a silanol group per cm² value of the capillary surface, an equilibrium …

Geophysical Characterization Of A Former Refinery Site, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Baraka Damas Kinabo

Masters Theses

Lakeside, a former refinery site, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is contaminated with hydrocarbon products. The contamination resulted from the refining and storage activities that took place at the site for over 50 years. The contamination is scattered in isolated pockets.

In an attempt to better define the contamination zones and therefore assist the remediation efforts, this study uses shallow geophysical methods including Electromagnetic induction using the EM 31 system, Magnetic, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and Resistivity methods. The hand auger was used to further characterize some EM 31 anomalies. The EM 31 conductivity results show elevated values resulting from the biodegradation …

Electrical Conductivity Measurements Of Lithium-Ammonia Solutions, Mariana Constantin Barbu

Masters Theses

The topic covered in this thesis is the study of electronic interactions for liquid metal-ammonia solutions, lithium-ammonia solutions in particular. To obtain a theoretical understanding of so-called correlated electron systems.

The work focuses on sample creation and measurement of electrical conductivity of lithium-ammonia solutions varying with temperature for different concentrations. We have taken measurements in liquid lithium-ammonia mixtures using four-wire method to minimize the contact resistance. We have shown how it is possible to carry out accurate measurements of the electrical conductivity in these systems with the four wire measurements.

Application Of Geochemical Fingerprinting And Isotopes To Identity Landfill Gas Impacts To Groundwater, Eric E. Wallis

Masters Theses

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are detected in two groundwater monitoring wells (MW-60 and MW-62S) located along the northern, downgradient property line of the McGill Road Landfill (MRL) in Jackson, Michigan. Potential on-site sources for groundwater impact are two distinct landfill units at the MRL. Leachate chemistry suggested that landfill leachate was not the source of VOCs detected in groundwater. A potential source for VOCs was landfill gas. Sources of landfill gas in the vicinity of the impacted wells included the distinct MRL landfill units as well as the old Jackson County Landfill (JCL), located hydraulically downgradient from the impacted wells. …

Stratigraphy Of Lake Michigan Lobe Deposits In Van Buren County, Michigan, Steven P. Beukema

Masters Theses

The surficial glacial deposits and landforms of Van Buren County were recently mapped at a 1:24,000 scale as part of a STATEMAP project. Several borings were drilled to supplement the surface data. Six of these borings were characterized in detail by means of gamma ray logging, textural analysis, and X-ray diffraction of the clay-sized fraction of the diamicton units.

Results from this study reveal two diamicton units at stratigraphically distinct positions that can be correlated across the county and that are separated by a thick sequence of lacustrine sediments. Correlation of diamicton and lacustrine units was accomplished by analyzing several …

Optical Solitons In A Three-State Medium, Talal Ghannam

Masters Theses

When a beam of light propagates within a typical medium, absorption is a common phenomenon. This happens when the frequency of the light is close to a resonant frequency of the atoms composing the medium. But in the past few decades, it has been shown that in certain circumstances, carefully chosen pulse shapes are able to propagate without significant absorption even when the frequency of the light is close to an atomic resonant frequency. It was called Self Induced Transparency (SIT).

This phenomenon was intensively studied in the two-state systems. On the other hand, the three-state systems seems not to …

A Geochemical Survey Of The Natural Waters Of Belize, Central America, Anthony D. Marfia

Masters Theses

A geochemical survey of the natural waters in Belize, Central America was carried out to compliment routine water quality analysis and to identify processes affecting water quality. The objective of this research was to provide a geochemical assessment of natural waters throughout Belize by examining select major ions (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ , SO₄^2-), and stable isotopes of carbon (¹³C), oxygen (¹⁸O) and hydrogen (²H).

The dominant geology relevant to this investigation comprises a varied landscape of carbonates and elastic sediments in a subtropical rainforest/savannah climate. Stable oxygen and hydrogen …

Development Of Kohonen Neural Network Application As A Pattern Recognition System For An Electronic Nose, Lori Lynn Evesque

Masters Theses

Electronic noses are used to identify and characterize unknown odors in industry. Chemometrics and neural network algorithms are used as pattern recognition systems for these devices. Experimentation with Kohonen clustering as the pattern recognition system for electronic noses was not noted prior to 1997. [BEG] This thesis investigated the use of a Kohonen neural network algorithm as a clustering algorithm for electronic nose data using the chemometrics algorithms built into the electronic nose as a performance standard. A secondary aim was to improve the clustering and identification capabilities of the Kohonen network.

The unsupervised Kohonen network was not able to …

Chlorobenzenes And Chloronitrobenzenes Interaction With Iron (O), Manuel Alejandro Serratos

Masters Theses

Degradation of chlorobenzene, dichlorobenzenes and chloronitrobenzenes (ClB, x-Cl2B and x-ClNO2B) was tested by trying to make them react with metallic iron, Fe (0), in water solvent.

The experiments consisted of optimizing the parameters of the reactions (like minimum mass of iron needed) and analytical detection conditions. Analytical techniques used were gas and liquid chromatography (GC and HPLC), mass spectrometry (MS) and UV-Vis spectroscopy.

No substances other than the initial ClB and x-Cl2B were detected in their tests with Fe (0) after shaking for periods of up to three days, although 10%weight average decreases in concentration were observed.

The ClNO2B isomers …

Synthesis And Characterization Of A Polypyridyl Ru(Ii)-Alloxazine Complex For Adsorption On Tio2-Coated Ito Electrodes, Manisha A. Patel

Masters Theses

TiO₂-coated conducting glass electrodes can be modified by attachment of redox-active molecules to the TiO₂ surface. This thesis describes the synthesis and characterization of a polypyridyl Ru(II) complex that can be covalently bound to a TiO₂ surface through the carboxylate groups of 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4' -dicarboxylic acid, H₂dcbpy. In addition, the bound complex contains a redox-active alloxazine derivative, pptd, which is capable of 2e^-/2H⁺ transfers. Thus the TiO₂-coated electrode is modified with a transition metal complex capable of shuttling H-atoms to substrates in solution. Synthesis of the PF₆^- salt …

Anthropogenic-Induced Changes To Weather And Climate: An Overview, Robert Cataneo

Masters Theses

Human activities, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, have caused measurable and significant changes to local and regional weather and climate, as well as to global climate.

There is substantial evidence to show that anthropogenic influences have caused statistically significant changes to local and regional weather and climate, and have played a major role in the 0.6°C increase in global, low level temperature observed in the last 100 years. There is also an abundance of data that establishes a causal relationship between the 32% increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration that has occurred since the beginning of the Industrial …

Phosphido-Bridged Complexes Linked By Unsaturated Phosphines, Yong Liu

Masters Theses

Di(p-tol)phosphido-bridged complexes, (OC)₄M[μ-P(p-tol)₂]₂M(CO)₄ (M = Mo, W), have been synthesized for the first time. These have been obtained from the reaction of (OC)₅MP(p-tol)₂H with BuLi, followed by air oxidation. The choice of solvent is very important as the intermediate anion, [(OC)₅MP(p-tol)₂] is unstable in THF. An ideal solvent for these preparations is CH₃OCH₂CH₂OCH₃ (monoglyme) from which yields of 68% and 76% were realized for the tungsten and molybdenum complexes, respectively. …

Dmap As A Catalyst For Carbon Acylation: Elucidation Of Mechanistic Pathway, Including Spectral Characterization Of The Putative Reactive Intermediate, Jagadish K. Boppisetti

Masters Theses

3-Phenylbenzofuranone, when deprotonated with sodium hydride, forms an extended enolate system which, when treated with excess alkyl chloroformates, affords only oxygen-acylated products, as opposed to the usually desired carbon-functionalized derivatives. It was discovered that such molecules, when treated with a catalytic amount of 4- (N, N-dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP), rearrange quantitatively to the carbon acylated isomers.

These migrations, which are accompanied by a deep blue color, are proposed to involve a reactive intermediate. This intermediate, which is postulated as an ion pair charge transfer (IPCT) complex, has been closely studied in order to gain a better understanding of the …

Prediction Intervals For The Binomial Distribution With Dependent Trials, Florian Sebastian Rueck

Masters Theses

"A generalization of a prediction interval procedure for the binomial distribution to the case of the binomial distribution with dependent trials is considered. Several different methods have been developed for obtaining prediction intervals for the binomial distribution. An unpublished study by Vlieger and Samaranayake has shown that two of these methods achieve coverage probabilities close to nominal levels. The proposed method is an extension of one of these methods and is based on the maximum likelihood predictive density proposed by Lejeune and Faulkenberry. A simulation study was carried out to investigate the coverage probabilities of the proposed prediction bounds.

This …

Hybrid Data Mining Technique For Application In Geo-Chemical Data Analysis, Shipra Dutta

Masters Theses

"Data mining is a very active research area, which has gained a lot of attention over the past few years for its applications in various fields ranging from stock forecasting to detecting damages in the structures like aircrafts. The use of data mining for applications in science and business has evoked a lot of interest in the researchers to explore the area further. In this research, a novel hybrid clustering architecture will be presented as a possible solution to classify the geo-chemical data obtained by conducting various direct and indirect tests on different sites. The fact that no single learning …

The Synthesis Of 2-(1-Indenyl)-Phenol: A Potential Ligand For Metallocene Polymerization Catalysts; And, Ω-Iodoalkyl(Methyl) Malonate Esters: Synthesis And Application In Bioconjugate Chemistry, Sara E. Bendler

Masters Theses

Chapter I:

Metallocene catalysis is an important division of polymerization chemistry. The design of appropriate ligands for metallocene catalysts has focused on stereochemical control and structural diversity. The synthesis of the potential ligand 2-(1-indenyl)-phenol has been developed. Indenyl phenol ligands offer advancements over cyclopentadienyl ligands because the steric and electronic properties of the catalyst could be tailored to suit individual polymerization reactions. 2-(1-Indenyl)-phenol was synthesized with an overall yield of 4% and characterized with ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR.

Chapter II:

A large percentage of breast malignancies overexpress the nuclear estrogen receptor (ER) protein. Binding to nuclear receptors …

Microbial Community Structure In Hydrocarbon Impacted Sediment Associated With Anomalous Geophysical Signatures, Joseph W. Duris

Masters Theses

The Crystal Refinery is a former refinery site in Carson City Michigan that has had historic releases of refined and unrefined crude oil dating back to the late 1940's. The contamination of soil with light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) has had a dynamic impact on the subsurface environment in adjacent Carson City Park. Very little is known about the complex interactions between microbial communities, geochemistry and geophysics. In order to investigate possible connections between these parameters a multidisciplinary study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that the degradation of LNAPL by resident microbial communities causes a local increase in organic …

Inorganic And Organic Chemistry Of The Former Lakeside Refinery In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Kurt W. Carlson

Masters Theses

The focus of this investigation of the Lakeside Refinery site is the inorganic geochemistry because previous investigations concerned organics and heavy metals. Because little nitrate is in native groundwater, high dissolved ammonia immediately downgradient from a petroleum body suggests the source is the petroleum and/or associated byproducts. Iron reduction is most prominent immediately upgradient from the known and measurable petroleum while manganese reduction occurs mostly downgradient. Sulfate reduction occurs mostly towards the southern portion of the light petroleum LNAPL. Based on concentrations of nitrate, manganese, iron and sulfate along a groundwater flow path, there appears to be a sequential use …

Mechanistic Studies On The Antagonistic Effect Of Chromium On Bpde Mutant Frequency In Human Fibroblasts, Felicia Codrea

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible mechanisms involved in the decrease in mutant frequency when cells are treated with two different types of carcinogens: chromium (VI) in combination with benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE). Three of our working hypotheses are: Cr alone or Cr and BPDE synergistically activate detoxifying enzyme glutathione-S-transferase (GST), Cr alone or Cr and BPDE act synergistically to inhibit cell cycle at the G₁/S boundary thus allowing more time for DNA repair, and Cr alone or Cr and BPDE synergistically activate DNA repair systems which result in more efficient repair of DNA …